


taste of temptation

by hurryup, nea_writes



Series: divine but not devout [2]
Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Linkllen Week 2017, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 05:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10757250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hurryup/pseuds/hurryup, https://archiveofourown.org/users/nea_writes/pseuds/nea_writes
Summary: Link’s baking always tastes great, but that doesn’t mean it's good for you. Rather, it's a bit like poison, or an addiction you just can't help.





	taste of temptation

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Linkllen Week prompt Angels/Demons. Part of the larger au between hurryup and I. Demon!Link, Human!Allen, and Angel!Kanda.

"So, what are you doing?"

Link should _not_ have been as surprised as he was. Masking the startled jerk he gave and turning it into a glance over his shoulder, he found Allen at the entrance to his kitchen, eyes curious and focused on the bowl in front of Link.

Link turned back to the bowl, regarding his hands. They were absolutely caked in dough and remnants of the ingredients used to make it. "I'm baking," Link said.

"Well, yes," Allen said, sounding amused, "but what are you baking exactly?"

Link paused for a while, trying to recall which recipe he was on. In the background he could hear Kanda's muffled complaints. "This is number eighty-four... so blueberry muffins, I think."

From the living room Kanda snapped, "Arsenic! They're fucking arsenic!"

Allen's brows rose nearly to his hairline, and Link had the grace to blush. "Yes, well, they were meant to be blueberry muffins." He frowned, looking at the fruit and rolling one under a finger. "Don't quite know where it went wrong."

"I see," Allen said, and Link could hear the smile in his voice. Allen paused for a long moment, and Link wondered if he'd ask where, exactly, blueberry muffins turned into arsenic muffins. Link idly considered gloving his right hand. Perhaps that'd dull the influence. "Is there a reason you're baking muffins? If you wanted some I could have gone to the store and bought them."

Unsaid but strongly implied was _I'll eat most of them, but I'd be sure to leave you one._

Link hesitated, turning fully back to his baking. He cracked another egg and sharply whisked it in, not thinking anything good but trying his best to avoid anything bad. "It's to pass the time," Link hedged. 

"To pass the time," Allen echoed. "You're baking and feeding Kanda arsenic-laced muffins to pass the time?"

Well, when he said it like _that._

Satisfied with the viscosity, Link tossed in the blueberries and fervently hoped they wouldn't somehow become poison. He ladled the mixture into two readied paper-lined cupcake tins. Setting the bowl aside, Link reached for one and paused when Allen grabbed the other with a smile.

Together they placed the pans in the oven and Link wound a timer, patting his hands and mournfully regarding the mess of a kitchen.

"I'll clean up," Allen offered. "I mean, you baked them. Least I could do, right?"

Suddenly feeling very useless, Link floundered in the kitchen. Allen was under the impression he'd be able to eat the muffins — which, if they came out as they were supposed to then Link would gladly give them all to him — but the reason Kanda was currently nursing a sore stomach wasn't because of greed.

Everything Link touched turned to poison.

In the early years this had been more of a problem. Simply stepping foot into a building rendered all in it terminally ill. Touching anything soured it from the inside. It took many years of concentration to carefully wrap all of this down, so that he could perhaps interact among people and not murder them accidentally. 

As it was, he could stay in the same room as Allen and not ruin his mood, appetite, or even his health. Directly handling food and cooking it was, however, another matter entirely.

Allen crouched in front of the stove's window, admiring the heat waves. "They're going to be delicious."

"How can you tell?" Link asked, moving closer and wondering if just the color of it informed Allen of its taste.

"Because you made them!" Allen said, laughing lightly. He looked up, and Link hastily stepped back. "I'm sure you've put a lot of careful thought into them."

In the living room Kanda was changing the channels idly, and the soft _flick_ between each station, the dull heat of the oven, the quiet drip of a leaky faucet Allen had never gotten around to fixing, the clink of dishes settling in the sink — all of it crowded the quiet space in the kitchen. 

Why was Link baking these muffins? He hadn't put that much thought into it. He had just wanted to. Neither Kanda nor Link needed to eat. This was a mindless indulgence that by nature Link was allowed to frequently exercise, but by disposition rarely did.

Gathering the mess he'd made of paper towels and emptied cartons, Link dropped them in the trash, taking care to brush the side of it and rot the evidence of the previous eighty-three batches of muffins.

Allen bounced up onto the balls of his feet, rocking slightly, clearly excited. "I can't wait!" Then, before Link could respond, he fluttered around the kitchen, collecting all the dirtied dishes to dump in the sink. He folded his sleeves up, a particular mannerism of his, removing his gloves to deposit on the breakfast bar before turning the sink on. He let the water play over his hands for a moment, and Link watched the clear liquid run in the grooves of his ruined hand. 

Allen still had not told Link how he'd come to receive such mangled scarring, and as far as he knew he hadn't told Kanda either. Of course, even if Kanda knew there was no reason for him to tell Link, but the nagging thought still remained.

He was here for Allen's soul. He didn't need to know the particulars behind it.

Left with nothing to do, Link grabbed a wet rag and wiped down the counter, mourning the flour dusting the front of his clothes. He had a sneaking suspicion there was some on his face too. This had been the longest time he'd spent in one home, and of all his hobbies baking had been the hardest to keep up. It'd stand to reason he'd be messier than usual.

Something warm and wet touched his cheek and Link jumped, turning to find Allen beside him. Taking advantage of Link's new position, Allen moved closer, wiping his face with his wet fingers. It left his forehead and cheeks chilled to the air, and before Link could reach up to trace them Allen had grabbed a soft dry towel, wiping the wet spaces clean. 

"There," Allen said with a grin. "I'm not even sure you knew how much flour was on your face. There was a quite a bit."

Link touched his cheek, skin still slightly damp. "I didn't..."

Satisfied with his work, Allen retreated to the sink, and Link could see the tell-tale sign of redness in his ears.

That, of everything, flushed Link hot. Whirling back to the counter, he gripped the edges, tracing the fake wood-grain with his eyes. He pressed the back of his marked hand to his cheek, mortified at how hot it felt. He was ages old! Thousand of years had passed behind him, made him up, shaped him into the man he was today. One tiny innocent touch shouldn't be flustering him like this!

He was just eager, Link reasoned. Once he had Allen's soul, he'd be free. Of course, there was the little detail of fighting Kanda over it, but it was just a technicality. Link had all the confidence (and careful meticulous planning) that he'd succeed. 

Allen's cheery egg timer eagerly thrilled, and Link turned it off, focusing instead on if the muffins were done. A tooth-pick test informed him they were baked to perfection, and Link grabbed the dog-shaped oven mitts, handling the pans carefully in the dog's faux teeth.

He set them on the oven, sniffing curiously. Nothing _smelled_ off, but neither had the oleander spiked chocolate chip muffins. Of course, the oleander would have only upset Allen's stomach versus the probable death of arsenic, but Link very much aimed to _feed_ Allen, not in any way poison him.

So when Allen's wriggling fingers came near the still hot-to-touch muffins, Link felt no remorse in swatting them away.

Allen feigned hurt, looking at Link with mournful eyes. "Just one! Come on, Link, _one!"_

"No," Link said staunchly. He removed the cakes to cool on a wire rack, keeping an eye on the time. "They need to cool properly." And be taste-tested by Kanda.

Allen wheedled it a bit longer, but Link refused to budge. Huffing, Allen resigned to finishing the dishes, and Link remained in the kitchen if only to make sure Allen didn't try to sneak one while Link's back was turned.

With half his focus on Allen's wandering gaze, Link idly prepared tea for Kanda, partly to go with the muffins and partly to soothe his palate if they were, indeed, poisoned again.

He supposed being a demon really did matter, even through all the years. He couldn't even _bake muffins_ without potentially killing a man.

The water shut off and Link glanced to the side to find Allen wiping his hands dry, the dishes airing on the rack. It flustered Link to find Allen's gaze on him, steady. Something in him felt galled, and he refused to look away, hands stilling on the tin of dry leaves.

"You never told me," Allen said quietly, soft now that the loud rush of water had ceased. In the background the television spoke in muted layered tones, words indecipherable. "Is it really just to pass the time?"

When Link didn't speak, he continued. "You know you're free to leave right? If you're bored, I mean. You don't have to stay here."

That was true. The assignment didn't necessitate that Link remain around Allen the entire time. Of course, the moment Link stepped into Allen's living room and found an angel with the same goals there as well had been the moment the assignment had been skewered straight to hell (ha!) — but it still didn't mean Link had to stay here. Stay, and greet Allen every morning and night when he left to work and came back; stay, and bicker with Kanda the whole day through or simply ignore each other for hours; stay, and purposefully avoid touching the plants Kanda had taken to growing so Link would not kill them; stay, and bake batch after batch of muffins just to surprise Allen.

Link traced the mark of the devil on his right hand, each line and each circle, read the imbued power and darkness there, flexed his left hand as he felt the imaginary hilt hidden in his mark. 

"I know," Link said, and did not say _but I want to stay here, anyways. Stay here, with everything that implies._

He did not say it, but Allen's ensuing smile spoke wonders. 

Kanda walked into the kitchen, grabbed a muffin, took a crass bite from the top, and immediately snagged a napkin to remove the bit. _"Belladonna,"_ he spat out, glaring at Link.

Link regarded the muffins with something like resigned exhaustion and dumped the whole batch out.


End file.
